c. 8/28/2013 Education Policy Division
Course Descriptions
EDUC 519 - Evolution of Assessment
Jon Supovitz
[Permission Needed from Department]
This course explores the evolution and diverse uses of assessment in four major areas: the historical roots
of testing and the development of the achievement testing industry; the rising interest and exploration of
alternative forms of assessment; how teachers employ a variety of assessments in their classrooms; and
how policymakers use assessment for decision-making and accountability purposes.
EDUC 529 - Organizational Learning and Education (TLL Course)
Jon Supovitz
This course is an exploration of the theory, research, and practice of how individuals learn within
organizational contexts and how organizations themselves may learn, as well as the social, cultural, and
organizational forces that influence this process.
EDUC 545 - Education Research Practicum
Matthew Steinberg
Education policy and practice increasingly rely on empirical evidence to inform state and local decisionmaking. This course is designed to partner students with educational leaders to conduct client-based,
applied education research projects. The clients will be drawn from GSE’s Mid-Career Doctoral Program
in Educational Leadership, and applied research teams will be comprised of GSE master’s degree
students. Students will engage in original empirical analysis, complete written policy reports and present
their findings to clients in end-of-semester formal client-briefings. For the student research teams, this
course will enhance both their human capital through real-world experience in applied education
research as well their social capital through their partnership with high-level education policymakers and
practitioners.
EDUC 545-017 - Applied Mixed Methods Research
Jon Supovitz
This is a foundational course on the major data collection techniques used in social science research,
including surveys, interviews, and observations. In the course we will examine multiple ways to collect
data for conducting empirical research in education. The course will focus on the development of
different data collection instruments, including surveys and interview protocols, collecting data using
these instruments, analyzing the resulting data, and triangulating across them. The course is designed for
master’s and doctoral students who are preparing to conduct fieldwork in educational and other
professional settings.
EDUC 545-002 - Race in American Schools
c. 8/28/2013 Staff
This seminar focuses on race relations and racial equity in America’s public schools,
EDUC 548 -American Education Reform: History, Policy, Practice
John Puckett
An examination of major themes in twentieth century American education. Topics include school reform,
ethnicity and race, higher education, work and education, the war on poverty, teaching and teachers, the
development of secondary education, and the curriculum.
EDUC 559 – Sociology of Education
Richard Ingersoll
This is an introductory, masters-degree-level course. It provides a broad survey overview of major
perspectives concerned with how societal forces have shaped the purposes, processes and organization of
schools. The objective is to impart to students a grasp of the historical and social foundations of the US
education system. This includes a variety of perspectives on education – traditional, progressive and
egalitarian. The primary focus will be on elementary and secondary schools in the U.S.
EDUC 591 - Applied Research Methods to Inform Policy and Practice
Rebecca Maynard
[Permission Needed from Department]
The class is designed to provide students with the knowledge and tools to define relevant research
questions to guide program design and operations, as well as to guide policy development; to map
questions to appropriate methods of research; to judge the quality of research evidence; and to design
strong analysis and evaluation strategies for various purposes. The primary, but not exclusive, focus of
the course is on education policy concerns.
EDUC 601 - Economic Aspects of Education Policy
Rebecca Maynard
This course has two main goals. One is to teach students to apply economic principles to analyze a wide
range of education policy issues. The other is to provide students with a foundation in contemporary
education policy issues. The course is designed to address analytic issues relevant to a wide range of
education professionals, including managers, policy makers, and evaluators. The course will be divided
into five units: (1) principles of economic analysis in the context of education policy; (2) the economics of
early care and education; (3) cost-effectiveness analysis; (4) human capital investment; and (5) education
finance.
EDUC 614 -Child Development and Social Policy
John Fantuzzo
The purpose of this course is to focus on major US social policies impacting our most vulnerable
subpopulations of children living in poverty. The class will explore how developmental science can
provide a broad conceptual framework to inform the construction of social policies for children and
evaluate their effectiveness. Since much of the social policy issues for children in the US public square
are currently hotly debated, the class format will incorporate debate and require students to actively
research and defend positions on existing policies. Class size will be set at a level to maximize interaction
and involvement.
EDUC 628 -Education Finance Policy
Staff
This course examines the legal, political and economic issues surrounding how public schools are funded,
including equity, productivity and the interaction of finance and school reform. Through readings,
discussion and written assignments, students will develop and apply policy analysis skills to the area of
education finance.
c. 8/28/2013 EDUC 668 - Master’s Paper Seminar
Staff
[Permission Needed from Division]
This intensive writing seminar is intended for Education Policy students as a hands-on approach to
completing their Master’s research paper. Through instructor-led coaching and class-led peer review, the
class will help you to formulate your thesis topic, hone your argument, and use supporting literature to
effectively make your case. The ultimate goal of the class is to help you graduate on time and with a
research paper that both makes you proud and helps you in the job market.
EDUC 692 – Education Policy Issues
Rebecca Maynard
This course addresses the rationale for public policy involvement in education. It also reviews the status
and implications of current federal, state and local policies relevant to a number of aspects of education,
including early care and education, school performance and drop-out prevention, school choice, school
finance, and school-to-work transition. Students will read selections from books, journals, policy analysis
reports, and current news reports. They will engage in exercises to explore the implications of various
policy options, and each student will prepare a paper that analyzes an in-depth education policy issue of
his or her choice.
EDUC 707 - U.S. School Policy and Reform
Laura Desimone
This course is designed to increase students’ understanding of education policy focused on improving
public schools. Topics include recent reforms such as accountability, school choice, charter schools and
curriculum and leadership reforms, with a focus on the translation of reforms to school and classroom
implementation. The course provides opportunities for students to evaluate research on education
policies, to help understand what works to improve student achievement and decrease the achievement
gap, what doesn’t, and why.
EDUC 708 - Schools as Organizations
Richard Ingersoll
Schools are places of learning--but they are also workplaces, teachers are employees and teaching is a job.
This in-depth doctoral-level course focuses on theory and research concerned with the organizational and
occupational side to schools and teaching. It draws from multiple fields and perspectives, including:
organizational theory; the sociology of organizations, occupations and work; educational administration;
and school leadership. The objective is to have students understand and evaluate a series of different
perspectives from theory, research and policy concerned with the character of the teaching occupation
and the organization of schools.
EDUC 712-401 - Comprehensive School Reform as Applied Public Policy
Theodore Hershberg
This course examines how K-12 education policy is designed and implemented in the United States. It
uses a systems analysis as the framework for looking at who makes what kinds of demands on the
education policy system, how these demands are placed on the policy agenda, the decision making
process, and resulting education policies and policy outcomes. The course pays particular attention to the
roles of federal, state and local governments in education policy, and the impact of our intergovernmental
system on the design and implementation of policy. Students will also examine major education policies
and debate key education policy issues that arise at each level of government.
EDUC 720 - Teachers and Teaching Policy
Laura Desimone
This course is designed as a seminar to provide students with the opportunity to study and analyze
issues and policy debates pertaining to teachers and teaching policy. Students will have the opportunity
to analyze, synthesize and evaluate research on policies focused on teachers and teaching, such as merit
c. 8/28/2013 pay, alternative certification/training programs, mentoring and induction programs, professional
development, and instructional interventions.
EDUC 838 - Applied Research and Reporting
Rebecca Maynard/Matthew Steinberg
Hands-on experience conducting applied research. Students will be guided through a research project
of relevance to education or social policy chosen by the student, with assistance from the instructor.
The research entails analysis of one or more public or quasi-public use data sets, such as the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth; the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Child Supplement; The
Teenage Parent Demonstration Data Base; the National Profile of Child Care Settings Data Base; or the
National Post Secondary Student Aid Survey. The students will prepare journal-length papers based
on their research and respond to the reviews of classmates and the instructor.
EDUC 900-002 - Seminar in Applied Research Synthesis Methods
Rebecca Maynard